Dollar-General-Jackson-DCGeorgia Governor Nathan Deal issued a press release on May 9th, 2016, making official the project to bring a Dollar General Distribution Center to Butts and Spalding Counties. The project, which had been codenamed “Project Buffalo” has been in the works since early 2015 and is the result of a tremendous collaboration between Butts County Development Authority, Butts County Commissioners Office, Butts County Water & Sewer Authority and their counterparts in neighboring Spalding County, along with a number of County departments and staff in both.

The 1 million square foot distribution center represents an $85 million dollar investment at Exit 205 and will create 500 new jobs for the region. It could potentially drive new, significant economic development at the interchange that would benefit Butts County and provide new revenues in the future. Dollar General leadership credited the cooperative spirit and support extended to them by Butts and Spalding County governments as factors that weighed in their decision to select the interchange for their new distribution center.

“This state-of-the-art distribution center will help support our rapid store growth throughout Georgia and the southeast,” said Todd Vasos, chief executive officer of Dollar General. “I want to thank the leadership in Butts and Spalding counties, as well as Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) for their support and assistance on this project. It is exciting to see our business continuing to grow and create new jobs across the country.”

“We appreciate the collaboration among everyone who has helped bring Dollar General to Butts and Spalding Counties. We’re glad to welcome a wonderful company and look forward to helping them be successful in our community,” said Butts County Board of Commissioners Chairman Keith Douglas on Monday.

The new distribution center, most of which will be located in Butts County, is expected to serve more than 1,000 stores in the southeast. Dollar General currently operates more than 650 stores and employs more than 5,000 people in Georgia, according to Development Authority Director Laura H. Sistrunk, who has been the lead facilitator for bringing this project to Butts County.

The Logistics, Energy, Agribusiness and Food Team represented the Global Commerce division on behalf of Georgia Department of Economic Development, in partnership with the Butts County Economic Development team, the Griffin-Spalding Joint Development Authority and Georgia Power.

“Dollar General’s decision to build a fulfillment center here in Georgia is a direct reflection of the high quality of our workforce and Georgia’s strategic location for accessing the Southeastern market,” said Governor Deal. “Georgia is perfectly positioned to support this fulfillment center and Dollar General will benefit by building in the No.1 state in which to do business. I am confident that our economic environment and location will bolster growth for Dollar General in Georgia.”

The hopeful completion date for the project is fall of 2017. In recent months, Butts County assembled its economic development team to meet with Dollar General key staff as well as architects, engineers and construction personnel to pre plan the process for construction. The economic development team can be assembled anytime a development project  requires input and guidance from a variety of County Agencies, Authorities, Utilities, Workforce Development, Schools and Municipalities who specialize in different areas.

“Bringing all of this knowledge and expertise to the table whenever needed helps make certain anytime there is a development prospect interested in our county that we can respond quickly and efficiently to their requests with everything from one-stop permitting to efficient plan review and approval processes” said Deputy County Administrator Michael Brewer. “In Butts County we are strongly committed to economic development and opening our doors to diversification of our tax base through jobs creation, investment and growth”.

Butts County Departments under the Board of Commissioners that have been involved with this project include:

  • Butts County Administration
  • Butts County Community & Economic Development Department
  • Butts County Office of Government Relations
  • Butts County Fire Department
  • Butts County Public Works Department